


87% probability of latent bisexual tendencies

by aceofsapphics



Series: calculations and connections [1]
Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alex is a disaster bi, Alex's bi crisis, Best Friends, Canon Compliant, Extended Scene, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Nora pov, hints at Nora/June developing, we need more Nora Holleran content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:20:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofsapphics/pseuds/aceofsapphics
Summary: “One hundred percent probability this is not a hypothetical question”The title says it all really – Nora is being her usual self, doing statistics when she realizes she has to help her best friend through a crisisOr: Nora’s POV of Alex’s bi crisis/ sort-of coming out to her
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz & Nora Holleran, Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Series: calculations and connections [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205042
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53





	87% probability of latent bisexual tendencies

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone,
> 
> so, this is my AO3 debut...  
> and also the first fic i wrote in a long time and the first time i ever wrote fic in english...  
> so feel free to comment if you find any grammar mishaps or weird uses of time (i'm always struggling with the tenses)  
> other than that, i hope you enjoy this. 
> 
> [Seeing as this is a scene from canon written from a different POV, all dialogue belongs to Casey McQuiston]

Nora loves her parent’s house and adores her grandparent’s way of making every house they live in into a place where she immediately feels at home. She also likes spending her time in the White House. When she was little, she’d always wondered how the inside really looked, how it felt to walk through these rooms. She knows now and while she frowns at the choice of inventory every chance she gets, she loves being in the White House because her best friends are there. June and Alex have spread their very own aura around the place and every time Nora arrives at the Residence, she feels this distinct energy surrounding the Claremont-Diaz siblings everywhere they go floating through the rooms.

Still, however much she loves all the different houses that hold pieces of her heart with the people that live in them, nothing can beat her own apartment. It’s her sanctuary, her place to be herself without anyone to watch her. It’s where she unwinds and it’s also where she thrives. She does her best work here, when the late hours paint the DC sky dark and the lights of the city dot colorful circles into the night. Surrounded by her plants, she works. 

Tonight, is no different. 

Nora’s eyes are jumping from screen to screen. She is sitting on her bedroom floor, spreadsheets around her, a tablet in her lap, phone in hand. Her fingers are furiously typing out an email, thumb running over the keyboard of her phone.  
Next to her, her personal computer is humming while running different aggregators, the TV in front of her shows the CNN coverage of the Republican campaign. Her campaign laptop to her left hums a little different than the aggregators, graphs in bright colors on the screen. Her tablet plays a re-run of old _Drag Race_ episodes. She knows them by heart so it’s a soothing background noise for her brain that’s in a bit of an overdrive. Nora doesn’t mind. She has always been like that. Constantly doing statistics in her head, calculating every little thing that might be relevant to her life – or in today’s case – Ellen Claremont’s re-election. The odds are better than four years ago and if she were easy to convince of optimism and relaxation, she would lean back and hope it all works out. But she isn’t. The odds may be better, but there is still a lot of time until November. Anything can happen. The Republicans are ruthless. In all honesty, she won’t be surprised if they turn out to play foul down the line. If she were someone else, she’d say she doesn’t hope it comes down to it, but she’s Nora and Nora Holleran doesn’t hope. She calculates and observes and figures out patterns and structures to have every single possible outcome considered. To be prepared for every way in which a surprise might show up in her life. 

A shadow moves into the doorframe and without looking up, she knows who it is and greets her best friend. “Hello.” Alex grins as he drops a bag of burritos and chips on her coffee table. “You might have to put guacamole directly into my mouth with a spoon because I need both hands for the next forty-eight hours.” She grins and turns back to her phone, starting to write the next email. She’s close to a breakthrough and really means what she said. Distractions don’t have a timeslot in her planning for tonight. Though she must admit that she doesn’t particularly mind having her best friend here. It’s been a long time since Alex visited her since she normally comes to the White House if they want to see each other. She can’t recall it happening once so far this re-election season. And if he brings food, there really isn’t a reason to be annoyed by his presence. She only had coffee today and about half a donut. The other half might still lay on her desk somewhere. She had to rush. The coffee was necessary since she doesn’t run on any other fuel these days. Hasn’t ever if she’s honest. Ever since her grandma allowed her to drink her first cup of coffee – long before her parents would have allowed her to – she hasn’t really stopped. Sure, it might be a caffeine addiction but in her eyes it’s only beneficial. She functions best that way.

"Barbacoa? “, she asks as Alex falls onto the couch. „I’ve met you before today, so, obviously.” She leans over and fishes a burrito out of the bag. “There’s my future husband.” It’s a running joke they’ve had ever since they first met and the White House Trio developed. She even calls Ellen mom-in-law in her head. Just sometimes though, obviously. She isn’t really _that_ invested in becoming an official part of the Claremont-Diaz family, however wonderful that would be. After all, she supposes she is already as much a part of the family as anyone can be.  
“I’m not going to have a marriage of convenience with you if you’re always embarrassing me with the way you eat burritos.” Nora rolls her eyes and continues to chew. “Aren’t you from Texas? “, she teases through a mouthful. _God, this is glorious_ , she thinks. Nora didn’t realize how hungry she was before. She never does when she’s in the zone. “I’ve seen you shotgun a bottle of barbecue sauce. Watch yourself or I’m gonna marry June instead.” It’s a continuation of their joke she adds sometimes, though she distinctly ignores the twisting feeling in her stomach as she speaks the words now. That feeling has been there for a while now. And most times she tries to explain it away and pretend that she doesn’t know what it means. Even though she does. She and June have become closer in the last months, closer than they’d already been, inseparable even. Nora is not sure she can write all the times June’s touch lingers a few moments too long off as just friendship anymore. But in the same way she has before, she stores the thought away with a forceful _later_ ringing in her mind.

She’s certain Alex will answer with a mocking response, something along the lines of _I’ll have to fight over your hand in marriage with my sister, then..._ He doesn’t. 

Nora is startled for a moment. She expected a reaction out of Alex. For one, he’s always quick to fire a sassy comment back to her. And besides that, the fact that she’s queer has always been established between them. It’s never been a direct topic of conversation but she never hid it. One time, Alex had asked her who she would date if she had the time (which she doesn’t). Her answer, that it would be an even split between the intern pool had only earned a shrug and a grinning _of course it would_. 

But she decides it might just be her overthinking something or getting her thoughts clouded with the thought – even if hypothetical and in a joking manner – of June and her... No, she needs to stop that thought right there before it starts to develop any further.  
So instead she starts to excitedly tell Alex all about the Boyer-Moore majority vote algorithm that she’s working on at the moment. 

She’s talked for twenty minutes when she notices that Alex isn’t paying attention. His eyes are clouded in thought and his forehead is slightly wrinkled. It’s not unusual per say that he zones out during her data rants, but he normally tries to at least ask a few interested questions. _Huh?_  
Nora stops and takes another bite of her burrito instead. Of course, she had noticed that Alex seemed especially in his thoughts lately and she had wondered why that might be. Had calculated everything she had observed about him lately and was fairly positive that it had at least something to do with their New Year’s Gala. If she is not mistaken, she can pinpoint the moment when Alex drifted off into this other dimension of thoughts to the time after their traditional New Year’s Kiss when he disappeared into the crowd, clearly looking for someone. 

“Hey, so, uh”, Alex starts, not meeting her eyes. „Remember when we dated?“ She grins at her best friend and swallows a bite. That had indeed been a fun time, even if it didn’t last long and they were definitely better off as friends. “Why yes, I do, Alejandro.” Her pet name for him slips off her tongue effortlessly, just like the banter they always engage in. But contrary to his normal reaction to her nickname which consist of a mocking eye roll and a sheepy grin, he laughs nervously. Very nervously. „So, knowing me as well as you do…“ „In the biblical sense,” she interjects, trying to get rid of the nervous look on his face with her words.  
“Numbers on me being into dudes?” Oh. _Oh_. She sits up straight in an instant. That is not what she expected to hear but somewhere in the back of her mind gears begin to rotate. “Seventy- eight percent probability of latent bisexual tendencies.” Her answer comes quick and sharp. The numbers never fail her. „One hundred percent probability this is not a hypothetical question”, she adds, watching her best friends’ expression carefully. 

“Yeah. So”, Alex coughs. “Weird thing happened. You know how Henry came to New Year’s?” Of course, she remembers. She also remembers the Prince leaving in a very frantic manner. “He kinda...kissed me?” Henry’s cheeks had been flushed when she’d last seen him, grabbing Pez’s arm and disappearing out of the room. “Oh, no shit? Nice.” The gears fall into place and if she’s honest, this truly isn’t her best calculating work because she should have realized sooner. “You’re not surprised?” Alex stares at her, shocked. 

„I mean. He’s gay and you’re hot, so.“ Her tone is matter-of-factly because truly, this isn’t a science.  
Except apparently to Alex it is. He nearly drops his burrito (which he eats ‘the right way’, obviously). “Wait, wait – what makes you think he’s gay? Did he tell you he was?” Oh sweet summer child, Alex really was more oblivious than she thought he would be. „No, I just… like, you know.“ She waves her hands, trying to explain by gesticulating. It’s the most accurate way of describing it. It’s not one single thing that made her clock the Prince as gay. It’s a vibe in a way and surely her thought process is obvious anyway, right? “I observe patterns and data, and they form logical conclusions, and he’s just gay. He’s always been gay.“ 

„I…what?“ Alex frowns. „Dude. Have you met him? Isn’t he supposed to be your best friend or whatever? He’s gay. Like, Fire-Island-on-the-Fourth-of-July gay.” _Also he’s been making comically large heart-eyes at you since day one_. She doesn’t say the last part out loud. Judging by Alex’s general and all-encompassing confusion, it wouldn’t help to tip him of on this. Not now. “Did you really not know?” she asks instead, applying a reassuring tone. He wrings his hands, looking helpless: “No?” 

“Alex, I thought you were supposed to be smart!” It’s almost shocking how Alex seems to have completely missed this. “Me too! How can he – how can he spring a kiss on me without telling me he’s gay first?” Nora smiles lightly. It’s almost funny how confused Alex is but she knows now is not the time to laugh. This has clearly been troubling him for a while now and as amusing as it is to see him so clueless, she’s his best friend and he came to her, probably because he hoped she could help him. So she’s gonna. 

“I mean, like, is it possible he assumed you knew?” Alex’s eyes widen. “But he goes on dates with girls all the time.“ Nora almost sighs in frustration but stops herself. Alex doesn’t really need that right now. „Yeah, because princes aren’t allowed to be gay.” Obviously. The British Monarchy is incredibly backward and conservative about this. She knows about so many (more or less) secretly queer royals and about Queen Mary's less than supportive remarks in the past. „Why do you think they’re always photographed?“ Alex is quiet for a moment before he straightens again. “Okay, so. Wait. Jesus.” The confusion is still edged all over his face. „Can we go back to the part where he kissed me?”

“Ooh, yes!” Nora grins and licks a drop of guacamole of her phone. Not quite hygienic, she knows, but really, she doesn’t care right now and has to help Alex through his crisis first before she can think about her mother’s voice in the back of her head scolding her. “Happily. Was he a good kisser? Was there tongue? Did you like it?” She lists the first questions in her head off. Alex blushes. He actually blushes. Nora is not sure when she's last seen him this flustered. „Never mind. Forget I asked“, he answers hastily. „Since when are you a prude? Last year you made me listen to every nasty detail about going down on Amber Forrester from June’s internship.“ She still has the mental image in her head. „Do _not_!“ Alex puts his elbow in front of his eyes, seemingly trying to hide.  
„Then spill.“  
„I seriously hope you die“, but Alex’s threat doesn’t come out half as threatening as he probably intended. His cheeks are too red for that. “Yes, he was a good kisser, and there was tongue.” “I fucking knew it!“ Nora exclaims. As always her calculations as well as her observations as a best friend prove to be correct. „Still waters, deep dicking.“ „ _Stop!_ “ Nora is not sure if Alex’s face is capable of turning even more flushed but she enjoys this too much. “Prince Henry is a biscuit, let him sop you up.” “I’m _leaving_!” Nora can’t help but laugh at that. “Did you like it though?” He is quiet for a moment, contemplating. “What, um”, he starts, still very clearly thinking about how to phrase his question. „What do you think it would mean…if I did?” 

Heavens, it’s adorable how clueless he still is. “Well. Babe. You’ve been wanting to dick him down forever, right?” Alex coughs. “What?”, he croaks. “Oh, shit. Did you not know that either?” Nora feels a little bad as she realizes how deep in denial Alex really is. Or was, at least. She really hopes he’s starting to stop denying. „Shit. I didn’t mean to, like, tell you. Is it time for this conversation?”  
“I...maybe?” Alex sounds so shy and unsure of himself. Nora doesn't remember him ever being that way nor does she think she likes seeing him like this. She puts her burrito down. The numbers, however tempting, clearly need to wait until she has helped Alex figure this out a bit more. “Let me lay out some observations for you: You extrapolate.” She gives him a look, checking if he listens before she continues. “First you’ve been, like, Draco-Malfoy-level obsessed with Henry for years”, Alex shifts in his seat and starts to open his mouth in protest. “ _Do not interrupt me_ – and since the royal wedding you’ve gotten his phone number and used it not to set up any appearances but instead to long-distance-flirt with him all day every day. You’re constantly making big cow eyes at your phone and if somebody asks you who you’re texting, you act like you got caught watching porn. You know his sleep schedule, he knows your sleep schedule, and you’re in a noticeably worse mood if you go a day without talking to him. You spend the entire New Year’s party straight-up ignoring the who’s who of hot people who want to fuck America’s most eligible bachelor to literally watch Henry stand next to the croquembouche, And he kissed you – with tongue! – and you liked it. So, objectively. What do you think it means?”

Alex stares at her, eyes wide. „I mean. I don’t … know.” Nora has to stop another deep sigh from escaping her lips and goes back to eating her burrito, frowning. Her eyes dart back to the newsfeed on her laptop as she says: “Okay.”  
“No, okay, look”, Alex discounts. “I know, like, objectively, on a fucking graphing calculator, it sounds like a huge embarrassing crush. But, ugh. I don’t know! He was my sworn enemy until a couple months ago, and then we were friends, I guess, and now he’s kissed me and I don’t know what we…are.“  
Nora hums in agreement, her eyes following what’s happening on the screen in front of her. “Yep.” But Alex doesn‘t seem to agree with her being disinterested again.

“And, still. In terms of like, sexuality, what does that make me?” Oops. She seems to have jumped ahead again. “Oh, like, I thought we were already there with you being bi and everything. Sorry, are we not? Did I skip ahead again? My bad. Hello, would you like to come out to me? I’m listening. Hi.” She smiles in a way she hopes is reassuring. Nora can’t help but want to kick herself. She knows her friends can’t always keep up with her brain and really, she should have considered this before. It’s clear that this has been troubling Alex and cost him quite a bit of sleep. And she knows, of course she knows that figuring out such an integral part of yourself isn’t always easy. It comes with doubts and questions and exactly the type of strange excuses she’s sure Alex has made for his feelings before. Sometimes she forgets that. It’s not like she never thought about her own sexuality in depth, but it was never that big of a topic in her head. Which is probably something she shouldn’t have assumed would be similar for Alex. “I don’t know!” Alex sounds miserable as he practically yells that. “Am I? Do you think I’m bi?“

„I can’t tell you that, Alex! That’s the whole point!“  
„Shit“, Alex lets his head fall back into the couch cushions. „I need someone to just tell me. How did you know you were?” Alex sounds defeated as he sits there, staring up to Nora’s ceiling. “I don’t know, man. I was in my junior year of high school and I touched a boob. It wasn’t very profound. Nobody’s gonna write an Off-Broadway play about it.“  
„Really helpful“, he sighs.  
„Yup“, Nora shoves a chip in her mouth and chews. After a while, she asks: “So, what are you gonna do?“  
„I have no idea. He’s totally ghosted me, so I guess it was awful or a stupid drunk mistake he regrets or – “  
Nora interrupts him before he goes on a thought spiral. She knows those and it’s an awful lot of work to get Alex out of one. “Alex. He likes you. He’s freaking out. You’re gonna have to decide how you feel about him and do something about it. He’s not in a position to do anything else.” Alex doesn’t say anything more about it, just stays silent. 

Nora decides she can return to her work without having to guide Alex further through his thoughts. She meant what she said, she really did. It’s on Alex to decide where he wants Henry and him to go from here.  
Anderson Cooper breaks down the prospects of the potential Republican nominees on the TV. She flips a page in her notebook and starts to write down bullet points for each candidate to add to her spread sheet later. She scribbles another argument under Richards. “Any chance someone other than Richards gets the nomination?“  
Alex shakes his head. „Nope. Not according to anybody I’ve talked to.”  
“It’s almost cute how hard the others are still trying”, she agrees and then they both fall silent. Alex caught up in his own thoughts and Nora already calculating Ellen’s chances again after the developments of the day. Alex stays for a while longer, occasionally commenting on something Cooper says on the News. After he finished his burrito, he slowly stands up and says his goodbyes. Nora only hears him through the fog of her running thoughts and nods. “Bye.”

The rest of the night passes without further interruption. She manages to get most of the things on her to-do list done by the time she closes her various devices to at least get some sleep before the sun comes up again. She decides to be generous with the tasks she didn’t do. After all, she did help her best friend through a crisis instead. Best friend duties might have not been on her to-do list for the day, but those things hardly ever follow a schedule.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks in advance for reading!
> 
> I'm thinking about maybe turning this into some sort of series with more scenes from Nora's POV. I'd love to explore her character more. If you have any suggestions for that, i'd love to hear them!
> 
> (also, i just had to add the comment about hygiene - as i reread the scene to work on this, my it's-been-a-fucking-year-in-this-pandemic-brain squirmed)


End file.
